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Former 'Kids Corner' photographer sentenced to 15 years for child porn

A former volunteer photographer for WXPN's "Kids Corner" radio show was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in federal prison, after pleading guilty earlier this year to child pornography charges.

A former volunteer photographer for WXPN's "Kids Corner" radio show was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in federal prison, after pleading guilty earlier this year to child pornography charges.

Mark Wilkens, 50, was found with cocaine and two Hello Kitty girls' socks in his pockets when federal agents arrested him last year at his Lawncrest apartment.

In March, he told a federal judge he took dozens of explicit pictures of girls between the ages of 3 and 10 while shooting photos for WXPN-sponsored children's events at the Franklin Institute, Morris Arboretum, and the Camden Children's Garden between August 2010 and July 2015.

His crimes were discovered after he tried to develop the photos at a self-serve kiosk at a Wal-Mart in Crescentville. The machine malfunctioned, sending the images to the store's help desk clerks, who later called Philadelphia police.

jroebuck@phillynews.com

215-854-2608

@jeremyrroebuck